U.S. Congressman Chris Smith earlier this week announced gay rights are not human rights. "I am a strong believer in traditional marriage and I do not construe homosexual rights as human rights," Smith said. He also suggested that the Obama administration’s "views on LGBT rights affected or hindered our support for Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram."
The conservative Republican from New Jersey is now under attack by LGBT groups in his home state and nationally, by the Human Rights Campaign.
Heightening the impact of his anti-gay statement is that Rep. Smith is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, and made his comments at a meeting of that subcommittee, which is a part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Congressman Smith's remarks were made on Wednesday, perhaps ironically, during a hearing he chaired on Nigeria. That same day, Nigerian law enforcement arrested twelve men accused of holding a same-sex wedding.
'I Do Not Construe Homosexual Rights As Human Rights' Says GOP Human Rights Subcommittee Head - The New Civil Rights Movement
Showing posts with label Chris Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Smith. Show all posts
Friday, February 6, 2015
Monday, February 3, 2014
H.R. 7: The Money Behind the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" - OpenSecrets Blog
The bill's main author, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), has clear support from the anti-abortion side of the debate. His second-largest donor in the first nine months of the 2014 election cycle is the Family Research Council PAC, which gave Smith $5,000.
The 2012 data show support from anti-abortion interests to 85 of H.R.7's 171 cosponsors, with the average donation coming to just over $4,000 per House recipient. Smith was on the high end, taking in $14,800 from anti-abortion interests in the 2012 election cycle.
On the pro-abortion rights side of the fence, though, campaign contributions are coming in fast and furious in the 2014 cycle. Pro-abortion rights groups made donations to 63 different House members through September 2013, with an average donation of around $4,000 per recipient.
In the 2012 cycle, pro-abortion rights interests dispersed significantly more campaign cash per House member than their foes on the other side, with an average donation topping $10,000 per representative.
H.R. 7: The Money Behind the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" - OpenSecrets Blog
The 2012 data show support from anti-abortion interests to 85 of H.R.7's 171 cosponsors, with the average donation coming to just over $4,000 per House recipient. Smith was on the high end, taking in $14,800 from anti-abortion interests in the 2012 election cycle.
On the pro-abortion rights side of the fence, though, campaign contributions are coming in fast and furious in the 2014 cycle. Pro-abortion rights groups made donations to 63 different House members through September 2013, with an average donation of around $4,000 per recipient.
In the 2012 cycle, pro-abortion rights interests dispersed significantly more campaign cash per House member than their foes on the other side, with an average donation topping $10,000 per representative.
H.R. 7: The Money Behind the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" - OpenSecrets Blog
3 Reasons You Should Remain Skeptical of H.R. 7 | Center for American Progress
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 7, deceptively titled the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the content of which is much broader than its title reflects. The bill includes restrictions that would block insurance coverage for abortion care in both federal programs and private insurance, thus making abortion unavailable for nearly all women in this country. This bill also makes permanent the discriminatory Hyde Amendment, a 1976 appropriations rider that prohibits federal funds from paying for abortion services. Introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), H.R. 7 also removes tax credits and deductions for families and small businesses seeking insurance plans with abortion coverage.
3 Reasons You Should Remain Skeptical of H.R. 7 | Center for American Progress
3 Reasons You Should Remain Skeptical of H.R. 7 | Center for American Progress
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
House Republican Bill Requires That the IRS Investigate Sexual Assault Survivors
This little tidbit came across my feed initially as a signature request on a petition. Not being familiar with it I decided to do a bit of digging. From my understanding it has been floating around since approximately 2011. It gets so far in the legislative process and then stalls. It was presented again in May of 2013 where it has again sat, current status: "Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice." Accordingly this bill is on the House agenda for this session, so it bares watching,,,
Smith’s bill punishes every healthcare policy holder in America by disallowing a tax deduction on income tax returns for any medical insurance if the policy includes coverage for family planning that nearly all healthcare plans provide. It even punishes women who pay for an abortion with cash because it disallows a medical deduction on Schedule A of individual income tax returns whether it was included in a healthcare insurance plan or not. The bill does allow a sexual assault victim to take the medical deduction for abortion care in a case of rape, but only after an IRS auditor verifies the victim was really sexually assaulted and conceived her attacker’s progeny.
Smith’s bill violates Republicans’ abhorrence of raising taxes, particularly on millions of small businesses because H.R. 7 raises their taxes if their employer-provided health insurance plan includes abortion coverage. The great majority of private and employer-provided plans do include abortion coverage as a legitimate medical procedure and expense, but theocrats in the House want to regulate the health insurance industry to inflict physical, psychological, and economic harm on women. Tax experts have already weighed in and the consensus is that if businesses are forced by federal regulations to choose between an increased tax liability and providing a healthcare plan that includes abortion coverage, most small businesses will switch to a Christian-approved plan under duress from theocrats masquerading as the federal government. The legislation also disallows all businesses from deducting, as a legitimate expense of doing business, their contribution to an employee’s healthcare insurance package or claim employer tax credits if the policy includes family planning coverage.
[,,,]
Americans should be asking fundamentalist Smith exactly who the first piece of Republican legislation in 2014 benefits other than the personhood movement, Family Research Council, American Family Association, and misogynist Christians across America. The legislation certainly does not benefit every business in America offering healthcare insurance as an employee benefit, and definitely not every taxpayer who is fortunate enough to afford healthcare insurance. It certainly offers no help to the underfunded and understaffed Internal Revenue Service tasked with interrogating rape victims to verify they were indeed raped, or businesses mandated to file annual IRS reports verifying that their healthcare plans do not violate the Christian tax-code.
House Republican Bill Requires That the IRS Investigate Sexual Assault Survivors
Smith’s bill punishes every healthcare policy holder in America by disallowing a tax deduction on income tax returns for any medical insurance if the policy includes coverage for family planning that nearly all healthcare plans provide. It even punishes women who pay for an abortion with cash because it disallows a medical deduction on Schedule A of individual income tax returns whether it was included in a healthcare insurance plan or not. The bill does allow a sexual assault victim to take the medical deduction for abortion care in a case of rape, but only after an IRS auditor verifies the victim was really sexually assaulted and conceived her attacker’s progeny.
Smith’s bill violates Republicans’ abhorrence of raising taxes, particularly on millions of small businesses because H.R. 7 raises their taxes if their employer-provided health insurance plan includes abortion coverage. The great majority of private and employer-provided plans do include abortion coverage as a legitimate medical procedure and expense, but theocrats in the House want to regulate the health insurance industry to inflict physical, psychological, and economic harm on women. Tax experts have already weighed in and the consensus is that if businesses are forced by federal regulations to choose between an increased tax liability and providing a healthcare plan that includes abortion coverage, most small businesses will switch to a Christian-approved plan under duress from theocrats masquerading as the federal government. The legislation also disallows all businesses from deducting, as a legitimate expense of doing business, their contribution to an employee’s healthcare insurance package or claim employer tax credits if the policy includes family planning coverage.
[,,,]
Americans should be asking fundamentalist Smith exactly who the first piece of Republican legislation in 2014 benefits other than the personhood movement, Family Research Council, American Family Association, and misogynist Christians across America. The legislation certainly does not benefit every business in America offering healthcare insurance as an employee benefit, and definitely not every taxpayer who is fortunate enough to afford healthcare insurance. It certainly offers no help to the underfunded and understaffed Internal Revenue Service tasked with interrogating rape victims to verify they were indeed raped, or businesses mandated to file annual IRS reports verifying that their healthcare plans do not violate the Christian tax-code.
House Republican Bill Requires That the IRS Investigate Sexual Assault Survivors
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